cowanbree

I don't really agree with this. I didn't walk my first dog until she was about 6 months old and they were only short walks then too (20 mins). She's got arthritis and even needed to be operated on. I don't think puppies should go out for long walks either but I cannot see any harm in taking them for a 10-20 minute walk either. In my opinion there's no protection against parvo anyway. You can have it under your boots, the postie might have it on his tyres ect. The other day I've visited a puppy pre-school and the trainer was paranoid over parvo. I asked her what to do with 2 dogs and she said I should rubb the older dog with wet wipes when I get back from a walk. 2 mins later 2 people and their 2 adult GSP who just came from the dog beach entered the puppy enclosure for a chat (all puppy owners were already gone). I would consider 6mths still very much a puppy. I generally start with small walks on soft surfaces at about 9mths and my breed is a small breed that matures early. If I had a large breed I wouldn't be walking them until around 12mths. As I said the odd wander to the shops is fine but no formal walks for me and my puppies

The proof is in how sound your dogs are in old age. Personally other than my very first dog I have never exercised puppies beyond the odd wander to the shops and I believe that is the reason I have very sound oldies. My dogs generally live to 15-17 years and seldom need meds until very elderly and even then it is more for my peace of mind. I have 2 13yr olds at the moment that can still jump on and off the bed (no small thing considering they are shelties) and scoff at the foot stool I put there to help them. On the other hand I watch my friend who believes it is mean to leave her puppy home when she walks the big dogs and she has terrible issues with arthritis. Certainly over exercising young soft bone isn't the only cause of arthritis but it doesn't help. It is possible to socialise and lead train your dog without going for long walks

My 2 cats love the bath. Being Persians they do need regular bathing so why not use the hydrobath. In fact I would say they like it a lot more than any of my dogs do

I do show my dogs and generally only do whites for shows with a full bath every 6-8 weeks. To much washing upsets the natural ph of the skin esp if you use the wrong shampoo

Add some Metamucil (sp?) to his food for the next wee while. I have also had some luck getting antibiotics injected intot he openings of the glands, everything settled right down

Your boy is fast approaching the age where he will have a puppy drop. I find the hair tends to dry out and look a bit yuck just before, also generally get a red tinge. He should have quite a big drop in the next few mths and the coat will grow back looking healthier. Oily isn't normal though so I would watch that, maybe over doing the baths? Certainly I don't bath my aussie that much

I have a number of dogs with blue eyes, never heard of it causing blindness. Did the breeder say why? In any case sight in one eye shouldn’t cause any problems at all. I have a 1 eyed cat and have had a dog and they were completely normal. The only issue is if something happens to the other eye.

I have desexed a lot of animals and sometimes they may not eat the day of the operation but other than that have they don't normally refuse food. Check to see if he is dehydrated by picking up the skin. It should snap quickly back when released. If it sags slowly he is dehydrated and may need fluids intravenously. Only once have I had a cat refused food, she was still dopy and out of it for a couple of days after the op. She spent those days at the vet on a drip and is fine today. Take him back to the vet

Depends what you call an Innie. I bred a wee bitch that the vulva has sunken into the surrounding skin. Still a completely normal vulva but was level with the surrounding skin instead of protruding. She came right after a season

. Following this we will be really phasing out her tough play and keeping walks to a maximum of 30 monutes once she has recovered from her soft tissue injury. No too sure how old your puppy is but I always advise my puppy buyers that they should not be doing formal walks until the dog is mature as it places too much stress on developing bones. I am not saying an occasional wander down to the shop is not allowed but no formal walks in my small breed until at least 7-9mths and even then they should start out small and keep off hard surfaces. Personally if I owned a GSD I very much doubt I would be walking that pup at all until 9mths plus and then starting at 15 min on soft surfaces and working up. Unless your puppy is over 12mths I think 30 minutes is a lot of exercise. They generally get enough exercise playing and of course during outings where they are socialized

As far as I am aware there is no treatment for IBS. I haven't given him Scourban and we are day 3 of not eating

Completely normal. The only thing I have really noticed is on the days he isn't eating he is more aggressive, not nasty but more pushy with the other dogs. What has your boy got?

He hates the Scourban, quite a performance to get it into him. If I don’t give it to him however he doesn’t start eating again, we have gone 4 days without food before I gave in. His teeth are good and he doesn’t have tonsillitis How often does Oliver fast? Cowan eats nothing, not even his morning biscuit. He has never been greatly motivated by food but this is getting to be quite worrying

I am looking for some ideas. I have a 7 year old sheltie who is in good health, no known issues at all but 1-2 days a week he doesn’t eat unless I give him 10ml of Scourban. He has been to the vet, had bloods run including thyroid and they have all come back within acceptable ranges. I am having difficulty getting my vet to take this seriously as he just laughs and says he isn’t skinny and seems fine within himself. This is true but this has been going on for over 18mths now and he can’t live on Scourban for the rest of his life. I thought at one stage it might be pancreatic insufficiency but tests came back negative. My vet said he thinks it is irritable bowel syndrome but other than not eating he is completely normal. I am seriously considering consulting another vet but I have been with my current vet for a lot of years now and have a good working relationship with him generally so not sure if that is the right thing to do. Anyhow anyone with any suggestions that I can take to my current vet?

Canidae here. Have tried a number of others but always end up swapping back

Had a long talk with my primary vet today. I said I wanted Mac fixed but he tells me I am being unrealistic. He said it is definitely some sort of auto immune issue and if I wanted to he would do the tests for me but in the end none of them were fixable and it was just a matter of managing the symptoms which we are already doing. I can see what he is saying but think I might try a phone consult with a holistic vet

My old girl Kell had a number of seizures for about 6 weeks and then they totally cleared up. Never really proved what caused it but was offered a number of reasons why it happened including liver problems. Apparently in older dogs seizures are normally secondary to some other underlying issue. I started her on Milk Thistle and over time the severity of the seizures lessened and then they stopped. I am no expert but thought you might like a positive story. I did have to have her pts in the end, she developed very bad circulation issues but she was seizure free

I have raised one litter on BARF and felt that I did the puppies a disservice. Not because I don’t think it is the best food for them but because 80% of puppy people will not feed it. It was a nightmare, most of them wanted to put the puppies straight on to dry and they wouldn’t eat it. Not great when they are just settling into their new homes. 1 decided to try it but didn’t do it properly and had nutritious issues. Nowadays I feed my puppies about 40% dry, give the puppy buyers all the relevant information and let them make their own choices know that whatever they decide my puppies will settle into it fine

Mac hasn’t been vaccinated in years, this started about 2 years after his last vac. I haven’t retested his thyroid, perhaps something I should look at although his fathers thyroid was normal. Thyroid supplementation has stopped all the tummy issues Mac had which apparently his Dad has never had. His sires owner is convinced it is Cushing’s but there is no hereditary link that I can find?

Have tried a number of alterative therapies including a Bowen Healer and a human naturopath with no luck. The sires owner is currently consulting with a homeopath with limited success

I am looking for suggestions. I own Mac, now aged 9 years and have had ongoing health issues with him for over 2 years. I had given up hope of finding out what was causing it and for the past 6mths have been managing the symptoms as the vets (multiple including a skin specialist) have said they think he has allergies. However I visited the owner of his sire this weekend and I now realize that his Dad has exactly the same symptoms. He lives in a different town, is fed differently and lives a very different life to my boy so to my mind this means whatever they both have must be hereditary. Here are their joint symptoms Excessive thirst and appetite All their coat is falling out – you can see skin Loss of muscle tone, all over even in the face. The sire is to such an extent that he is having trouble walking Very hot body, not a temperature but to touch him he is about twice as hot as any normal dogs Gurgly tummies that means they don’t eat. Mac has mostly resolved since starting thyroid meds Hot spots Here is what we have done Thyroid (Mac is low and being treated but the sire isn’t) Full bloods, both normal Mac – Pancreatitus Pancreatic insufficiency Montee – Cushings Mac is currently on a huge array of pills, mostly to keep his skin under control but as far as I am concerned we are just treating the symptoms Obviously a vet is already involved, in fact multiple vets but they are stumped . Suggestions anyone?

Carp sometimes the best thing for the dog is to go back to the breeder. In this case it does not sound as if this dog fits with what you are looking for, it does happen and she may be better off in another home. Personally I find it very unusual for a 6mth old sheltie baby to be exhibiting this type of behavior. In 20 years plus of breeding I have never heard anything like it. Are you sure that it is dominance rather than fear?

At 11 years of age in a big breed I would consider it normal for them to have some arthritis - I wouldn't call that HD

My gorgeous wee 12 year old Kayla has had lung cancer for over 12mths now. With the assistance of prednisone she has far surpassed the vets guesstimate of her life expectancy. Last week I found a lump unlike any lump I have felt before. A vet visit confirmed my fears, it is cancer. The vet said leave it, accept what is going to happen and enjoy her while I have her. 90% of me agrees with him but a small portion thinks she is so well currently there must be something that can be done without putting her through operations or discomfort. I accept she is in the last portion of her life, she is coughing more and sleeping a lot more than she used to but overall she is eating well and seems quite happy. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Leave a radio on, what they can't hear they won't bark at